Your children's education abroad

When you made the decision to move abroad, you would obviously have given some prior thought to your children’s education, but also to the new way of life in your host country. As is the case for any expatriate, your child will find themselves having to adapt to a new school routine – that of your host country!
It is therefore important to prepare for your children starting school, bearing in mind that in some countries, such as Colombia for example, there are new school terms several times a year (January and September).
You will not therefore be able to keep to your old routine.

The first thing is to select a school for your children, whether it’s a local establishment or an international one. The website of the AEFE (Agence pour l’Enseignement du Français or Agency for the Teaching of French) can help you with this: www.aefe.fr.

This can sometimes be a difficult dilemma for parents as they have to make a crucial choice for their children. A bilingual school (mother tongue + language of the host country) is ideal. The children will be able to keep using their mother tongue while learning the new language of their adopted country.

But it depends on the family’s plans: if your intention is to move to a different country every two years, for example, your child will obviously need to master English, and in this case, their education should be geared towards this.

There is also another possible option for your children: home schooling – but it must be supervised and your children will still need regular monitoring.

Whatever solution you choose, always keep in mind the possibility of your children returning to school in the home country.